Pursuing Jesus Through Purity: Part 1

            Recently, I attended a breakout session titled, “Pursuing Purity in an Impure World,” by Adam Tyson. I wanted to share some of my thoughts on what I learned in that session, using his four main points. I will post his first two points and my commentary today and his last two points and my thoughts on Friday.

“³ For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, ⁵ not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶ and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. ⁸ So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.”

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8

In order to pursue Jesus--a holy God--we must ourselves me holy. We must be pure. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8) 

Purity on our own is impossible, but God can create purity in us. However, it’s a process. I have to fight for purity in my life—especially as our world grows darker and darker every day. Temptation is everywhere. You can’t even go grocery shopping without being assaulted by inappropriate pictures on magazines. The Internet is full of it.

Temptation is rampant.

But as Christians, we must strive for purity. We must fight for it.

How do we pursue purity in an impure world?

1.     Abstain from any kind of sexual immorality (vs. 3)

Abstain: far off, avoid, running away.

Abstaining is running away from everything that carries a hint. God’s will for my life is my sanctification, which means completely abstaining from sexual immorality. This includes every hint in body, mind, and heart. We must be completely pure.

In our culture, the motto is, “If it feels good, do it.” We must avoid that motto! It is dangerous!

A lot of times, questions are asked, “Should we kiss before we are married? Should we kiss before we’re engaged? What about this? What about that?” Almost always, the real question behind those are, “How close can I get?” Don’t ask that question. Instead, ask, “How far can I run?” Because even just “a little” can lead to sin in heart and mind, if not in body.

2.     Learn to have self-control (vs. 4-5)

Self-control involves every part of a person, including eyes, mind, hands, heart, etc. We need to learn to control our members. We must “possess” ourselves in holiness and not let sin drag us down.

Self-control means purifying our thought life (see The Springboard Approach by Liza Grace) and our motives. 

Having self-control also means not letting yourself believe or act upon the lie that you need a guy. It means resting in God and believing His Word, and acting upon that.

What thoughts do you have on pursuing purity?